cue drum roll...

I mentioned my big news in my last post....well, I've been published in Creative Cardmaking - twice!Back in October I submitted three love-themed cards (with step-by-step instructions and a short introduction) on behalf of Barbara at the Windmill Craft Centre, and the remit was that they would be suitable to send to a man. And we all know how difficult it is to make cards for men, don't we!

Only one was supposed to be shown, if you were lucky enough to be accepted, so I totally didn't expect two of the three to be shown, what a surprise!

The first is this scrap-style rocking card, very dimensional IRL, with foam pads at different heights under the message. The double heart is a lift from the card I made for my DH last valentine's day.

And this one is a super cute Penny Black hedgie stamp that I've coloured with Copics and then decoupaged.

I've never submitted anything before, I'm the world worst with deadlines! It's a very funny feeling, seeing your stuff in a magazine, so to see your name there, too - well, WOW! (Even if it is a very common name, LOL).

So that's my news! Hee! It's given me a lovely feeling inside, and although I know that pride is a deadly sin, well you know what - I am a bit proud!

I'll go now before my head gets too swollen.

TTFN!

greetings

I'm just posting to wish everyone a very merry christmas and a

happy (and maybe merry?) new year!

And while I wish you that, I'm enjoying my second Snowball - oh, how retro is that! For me, it's the ultimate christmas drink, and it always reminds me of my Nana (sadly, no longer with us). She would always make me a Snowball when I was young, so it brings back sweet memories.

Speaking of snowballs (the frozen kind though, now) , we've even had snow in my neck of the woods. Snow is kind of a BIG DEAL around here- the last decent snowfall we had was in 2006, so the kids have been very happy.

Although I've not managed to get any photos of them in it, so a lost scrapping opportunity, I'm afraid. But funnily enough, I made this tiny altered tin last month, and used some of the 2006 photos I took of my youngest playing with the pugs in the snow.

Cute!

Virtually finished all the preparations now, just a few presents left to wrap - well, put into gift bags, I'm too lazy to be bothered with wrapping paper, LOL!

I decorated a cardboard wine carrier for my FIL's gift, it looked pretty good actually - and how else would you give half a dozen bottles of wine? Forgot to photograph it though.

Next time I post, I've got BIG news to share, ooh, I can't wait to tell you!

TTFN!

May health, peace, love and joy be yours for 2010.

only 1 week to go..

Well, it's nearly upon us, isn't it? Christmas just creeps up on you and then all of a sudden, there's very little time to get everything done. But I have managed to finish what I need to, there's just my Dad's present to think of - he's very difficult to buy for, and when I asked him if there's anything he'd like he just said, "ask your Mum what I need"!! No help at all really, as if my Mum hasn't got enough to do!

Most of the food shopping is done, with various items hidden from the boys. Isaac (eldest DS) ate half a jar of pickled onions yesterday amongst other things....

I've had to be slightly more organised than I usually am, as I'm starting a run of 5 night duties tonight. I'm not looking forward to these nights - it's quite likely to be busy,with everyone trying to get themselves delivered before christmas.

This 'Whiff of Joy' stamp is my current favourite, I do love her little suit and I love that she can team up with these Magnolia Winter trees.

You can just make out the twinkle of the glamour dust on this shot.

So TTFN!

where does my time go?

I know where it goes, actually - my shiny new toy, my gorgeous iPhone! This is my xmas pressie from DH but I couldn't wait until then- Ha, big kid aren't I.

Well I had to make sure it works, ;)

It's got quite a few time-wasting games on it and I'm now just dipping my toe into Facebook (finally).

So I've given eldest DS my beloved iTouch and left him to download various fun apps. So just imagine my surprise when I synced my phone to iTunes and along with the various games he'd gotten was "Hot Chicks" and something else very similar! Parental control kicks in...

So with all this time-wasting, I've done virtually no cardmaking this week. But I have got this card to share, but apologies for the poor lighting on the first photo. The close-up is much more true to real life colour.

She's turned out very, very cute in her brown coat and hat!

I'm going to have to write some cards out this week though - it's no good just making them is it - they need to be sent out. We received our first xmas card last week - but it looks a bit lonely at the moment, on it's own on the fireplace. Decoration time soon, I think.

And a big northern 'Ello luv' to anyone who visits from UK Scrappers - I'm in the honourable mentions on the 'Blog Bits' on the home page - wow!

TTFN!

woo hoot

This was our project for my class on Sunday - fab little stocking fillers that are very cheep (Sorry - couldn't resist the pun LOL).

The paper-pieced owls are acrylic stamps from Woodware, it's such a fun set. There's a cute little bird house on the sheet too and speech bubbles with owlish sayings.
The papers are 'U Bug Me' by Bo-Bunny, double sided which I love. It just takes a bit of planning with your papers. The owls are shaded slightly and then highlighted with a white gel pen.

I experimented with pen/pencil loops to include a pen - I know that in my house, there's never a pen to be found (I'm sure I'm not the only one with this problem!)

How great is this for a teacher's gift, too? Or to sell at a craft fair?

The next bit of waffle will only make sense if you're a Twilight series fan. Feel free to skip this if you're not obsessed with Edward/ Jacob/ Bella, LOL!

I'm only just recovering from seeing "New Moon' at the cinema on Friday. I was absolutely blown away with this film, it was a brill adaptation to the book, and Jacob Black - well, what can I say.... OMG, that body...

I'm even more into the books now I've seen NM, and I've put lots of scrummy wallpapers of the lead males onto my phone - I really think it's an illness. My chum Lisa (who I hold entirely responsible for the illness) says we are now 'Twi-hards'! It's been a while since I became obsessed with a series of books like this, it's just such a lovely story about first love.

I'm even going to go and see it again at the cinema and I've never paid to see a film twice. Definitely, definitely ill...

TTFN!

a jiggler

Ok, I have been dying to share this -a very jiggly card indeed! Remember my last easel card with the greeting on the acetate strip? Well, I thought the acetate would look cute with snowflakes that move at the slightest disturbance.I've used the Spellbinders 'Snowflake Wonder' die set and cut three sets of flakes from white glitter card. I just love snowflakes and this die set ticks all my boxes.

The white panel is embossed with a cuttlebug folder, but I swiped the embossing folder with Versamark before I put in the paper. Then I brushed over the panel of embossed paper with pale pink 'Perfect Pearls' and this stuck to the Versamark in the debossed areas. It's a shame the camera didn't pick this up too well, it's so pretty.

The greeting stamp is by Stampin' Up, stamped twice, punched out then layered with foam dots over another snowflake.And a side view. I had to weight the middle snowflake a bit to help drop it down away from the other two. I just added another layer of snowflake to give the extra weight.

Cute, huh. Even my Dad thinks this is nice!! How fab would this be with butterflies, birds, flowers or fairies? I could use my owl stamps for this, too.

Hi to anyone who came to my class yesterday morning! And a big thanks to Carole for being my right-hand-woman.

I'm off to bed now, I worked my first night duty of 4 last night. Bit hard to focus straight to type tbh, the spell check just worked overtime during this post, LOL.

TTFN!

caught in crystal

Hi everyone, this is a photo heavy post today!

I'm sharing the cards I made for a demonstration last night, using the 'caught in crystal' technique. The end result is almost like a huge epoxy accent, one of those 'how did you do that? techniques.

This one is my favourite.

Its easy, but not a card you can make fast as the drying time is several hours. You need Glossy

accents, acetate sheet(cut down into manageable pieces), white card, glitter, stamps, inkpads, alcohol ink (optional) and a Staz-on inkpad.

So here's how.

Stamp your focal image using Staz-On onto a piece of acetate and let it dry. While it's drying, stamp a background (for the card below, I stamped swirls and snowflakes using Brilliance inks). If you want to include text, stamp it on the background, bearing in mind that the main image is going to be reversed at the end, so plan where you'll stamp your text.

Back to your stamped acetate now, it should be dry. Drizzle a generous amount of Glossy Accents over your stamped image and slightly beyond. Drip a few drops of ink into this then swirl with a gloved finger (I use light-coloured alcohol inks) and spread the glossy accents evenly. Sprinkle a little glitter into this, then take your stamped background and place it on top (stamped side to the glossy accents). Flip it over and then gently squish the acetate with your fingers, trying to get rid of air bubbles. Make sure you get the glossy accents out far enough so that you can cut it down to size, but not so far out it goes all over you and the furniture..

Leave it somewhere safe to dry (several hours, maybe overnight), and away from curious cats and children, who can't resist giving it an extra squish...

It will curl, but this actually is a good thing as when you make it up into a card, the curve looks really nice. Once it's dry you can trim it down or die cut it - well, yes, I used my nesties, you know I'm addicted to them!

On this one, I just did acetate, glossy Accents and glitter, no stamping on the acetate and no alcohol ink swirled in. All the stamping is on the background using dye inks, which ran a little with the moisture from the Glossy Accents. A bit 'distress', Sir Tim Holtz would be proud...

This blue one was my first attempt, and I didn't use enough glitter. And you know what a glitter queen I am.

And this one is another fave.

Serendipity moment - I wiped off the Staz-On stamped seed head, thinking I'd do it again, and it left behind a sort of ghost image, which I liked. (If you've got a grey Staz-On pad, you could probably get the same effect using that).

I stamped the frame and text in dye ink, knowing that would run a little, then stamped the seed heads in green chalk ink, which doesn't run.

Of course they are much more twinkly when you see them in real life. I had the devil of a job trying to photograph these, what with all the relections on the acetate!

I also tried this using cheap acetate, but that was not successful as it went very wrinkly. But then, I peeled away the acetate and was left with the hardened glossy accents trapping all the glitter, which was a bit unexpected. It'll go in the 'interesting things' box and I might find a use for it one day.

Hi to everyone who came last night btw, it was a great evening, and I know you'll all enjoy your bargains!

TTFN!